Buckle.



No. 878,764. PATENTED FEB. 11, 1908.

. B. BIXBY.

BUCKLE.-

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 7, 1906.

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' Attorney,

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BERNADOTTE BIXBY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

BUCKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1908.

Application filed August '7, 1906. Serial No. 329,610.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNADOTTE BIXBY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, State of California,have invented and discovered a new and useful Improvement in Buckles;and I do hereby declare the following to be a clear, full, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in buckles for clothing and forother purposes; and the objects of my improvement are, first toconstruct buckles to be used upon trousers, vests and other garmentsmade by clothiers and tailors, having the prongs thereof guarded toavoid pricking the fingers of persons adjusting the buckles to thegarments and of persons wearing apparel to which the buckles arefastened; and second, and to place upon the market buckles provided withmeans for preventing the prongs thereof from piercing and tearing thewearing apparel contiguous to the buckles upon the bodies of personsusing my improvement.

The invention consists essentially in the construction, combination andarrangement of the several parts as will be hereinafter fully describedin the specification, shown upon the drawings appended heretoandspecifically pointed out in the claims made a part hereof.

I attain these objects by the construction and arrangement of theseveral parts illustrated upon the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a plan view of my improvement showing the buckle frame andthe prong-bar and prongs behind the guards; F g. 2 is a plan view of myimproved buckle showing the prongs thereof removed from under and frombehind the guards; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken upon the line bbof Fig. 1 of the drawings looking in the direction of the arrows.

Similar reference numerals, letters and characters refer to like partsthroughout the several views of the drawings.

The reference numeral 1,, denotes the frame of the buckle desirably madeof one piece and preferably stamped out of sheet 1ron or other suitablematerial.

The reference numeral 2, designates the prong-bar, and 3, indicates theprongs, the said prong bar and prongs are desirably made integral andpreferably stamped out from sheet iron or other suitable material.

As hereinbefore referred to, the frame 1, consists of the guards 12, andthe guard bar 5, on which the free ends of the prongs 3, rest when thebuckle is in use, and the strap bar 6, the two end pieces 7, havingenlargements 9, thereon provided with recesses 8, upon the inner facesthereof and about the longitudinal centers thereof, in which recessesthe pointed or journaled ends 8, of the prong-bar 2, have theirbearings.

Upon Fig. 1, I have shown in full lines the guards 12, turned over uponthe said guard bar 5, ready for use, the prongs 3, in full and dottedlines in part under and behind said guards.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings, I have illustrated the said guards 12, indotted lines turned over upon the guard bar 5; and I have also shown thesaid guards 12, in full lines before being turned over upon the saidguard bar 5.

The guard bar 5, and the strap bar 6, preferably lie in the same planeand parallel with each other. The two end pieces 7, are parallel to eachother, the buckle frame being rectangular in form.

The two end pieces 7, are turned at an angle to the upper surfaces ofthe guard bar 5, and strap bar 6, the lower edge of said end pieces 7,of the frame 1, being upon the same plane with the upper surfaces of thesaid guard bar and strap bar and the upper edges of the said end piecesprojecting above the upper surfaces of the said guard bar and strap bar.

About midway of the said two end pieces 7, are the said enlargements 9,having recesses 8 therein, as hereinbefore referred to in which the endsof the prong-bar 2, are journaled.

The inner edges of the guards 12, as shown at 13, are inclined orbeveled in order that the ends of the prongs 3, pointedly inclined at14, upon slight pressure being made thereon may be sprung inwardly andpass under and behind the inner ends of the guards 12, andthe prongs areheld therein by the said guards thereby preventing the upon the front ofthe prong 3 is all that is necessary in order that the said prongs beinserted under the guards. When it is desir able to remove the saidprongs 3 from under 5 the edges 13 of the guards 12 pressure upon theunder side of the prongs accompanied with a gentle springing together ofthe ends of the prongs will readily remove the prongs from under theedges 13 of the guards 12.

My im roved buckle is ada ted to various uses an can be economica lyapplied to harness as well as to wearing apparel or to any other uses towhich buckles in general are applicable.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings it is thought that the construction, mode ofoperation and advantages of the invention will be readily apparentwithout requiring an extended explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion and minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the principle orsacri ficing any of the advantages of this invention and I'thereforereserve to myself the right to make such changes as fairly fall withinthe scope of the appended claim.

It is obvious that many variations in the details of construction wouldreadily suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art, and still bewithin the spirit and scope of my improvement.

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

A buckle comprising a pronged bar and a frame to which said bar ispivoted and provided with turned-over guards for the pointed ends of theprongs, said guards having beveled edges to engage the edges of the saidprongs when pressure is applied to said prongs to operate the buckle.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

BERNADOTTE BIXBY.

Witnesses: 7

JAMES R. ROGERS, A. M. HINoHMAN.

